The Contractor Ch. 01-02

"I lost a fiancée back a dozen years. She was an innocent bystander and got caught in the crossfire."

"And no one has been able to measure up since," she stated.

"You know what I do for a living. Does that sound like it would produce a stable home environment?"

"Some women are able to look past that."

"I wouldn't do that to them. I've lost one person who was important to me. I won't risk another."

"You never know. You might meet a woman who will make you forget about the danger and risk everything to be with her."

"A very romantic but impractical view."

"Hmmm ... maybe. Maybe not," she said, the tip of her finger in her mouth, exaggerating her pout. She knew exactly what she was doing ... or trying to do. I'd seen it all before.

"I'll be seeing you," she said, concentrating on me for a moment longer before standing. "I've got to go. I'll be staying with my uncle for a while. Come and visit if you have the time. I'll drop by when I can ... if it doesn't bother you."

"I'm not going anywhere that I know of." I thought about warning her to keep her mouth shut about me, but it would probably be a waste of breath. I had to hope she understood that she knew enough to be dangerous ... both to me, her uncle, and herself. Now I'd have to keep a watch over her too.

~*~

I rolled to a stop near Hurley's cabin and climbed out, stretching after the tiresome flight and long drive from Portland. The cabin door was barely opened when Norton came bounding out to greet me with his usual enthusiasm. I spent a few moments acknowledging him as Hurley walked toward me.

"How was the trip?" he asked.

"Better this time."

He nodded. That was enough information for him. He knew I had completed my assignment successfully.

"Took a little longer than usual," he commented. It wasn't a criticism.

"Some loose ends to tidy up."

I was about to add something when I saw Sally emerge from the cabin.

"You still here?" I asked redundantly.

"Yes. Are you disappointed?"

"Nope. Surprised, maybe."

"I like it here. Besides, that trailer of yours is very comfortable. Easy to keep clean, too."

"You been staying there?" I asked, a bit leery of her becoming so familiar.

"Just to make sure everything was taken care of. Things get dusty up here. I cleaned out the fridge when I heard you were coming back. I do windows, too," she grinned.

"You figure you're all right being on your own?"

"Norton kept me company. He's happier there."

I nodded. "I'll be back later, Hurley." I knew he'd expect a debriefing.

I looked to Sally and gestured. "Hop in the car. We need to talk." I opened the back door for Norton and he jumped in immediately.

The short ride to my trailer was silent, but I could guess Sally was bursting to find out what I wanted to talk about.

"Beer?" I asked as we stepped into the unit.

"Sure." She was watching me, uncertain what this was all about.

I passed her the bottle and gestured for her to sit on the sectional.

"I don't mind you staying here when I'm gone ... just so you know."

"Okay," she said warily.

"I can understand Hurley's cabin isn't the lap of luxury," I continued.

"It's clean. I can deal with it."

"So tell me ... why here?"

She took a sip of her beer, delaying her answer for a reason.

"You interest me," she said at length. "I want to get to know you better."

"So, you've been snooping in my things?" I grinned, knowing full well she wouldn't have found anything that I didn't want her to see.

"You'd be surprised what I can learn just by looking around."

"Such as?"

"There's no woman in your life, and I'm guessing there hasn't been for a while."

"You already knew that. What else?"

"You're almost compulsively neat. I imagine that comes from your job. A place for everything and everything in its place."

"Go on."

"You trust Hurley and Norton, but no one else."

"Anything else?"

"I worry you."

"How do you figure that?"

"You feel you have to protect me because I'm related to Hurley and he's your one trustworthy friend. It's an obligation, not something you would choose to do."

I didn't respond. She was right and I wished she weren't. I would have to talk to Hurley about her. I wasn't about to risk my relationship with the one friend I had whom I could trust implicitly.

"I'm going to be around, Rick, so get used to me," she said with a wicked smile.

"You got a boyfriend or a husband stashed somewhere?"

"Ex-husband. I was too tough for him."

"What the hell does that mean?"

"He couldn't keep up, in or out of bed. He didn't like it when I wanted to lead, in or out of bed," she grinned.

"That's more than I needed to know."

"Maybe ... maybe not. I get the impression it wouldn't be an issue with you."

I didn't answer the challenge, if that's what it was.

"You planning on staying around here much longer?" I asked after a long silence.

"I might. Depends."

"Depends on what?"

"Just how welcome I feel."

This little sparring match had gone on long enough.

Might as well get to the point. "What do you want, Sally?"

"Someone interesting to be with. Conversation. Companionship. A little sex on the side."

Well that was blunt enough.

"And you think I'm a good ... conversationalist?"

"I think you need to work on that part of your personality. The rest of it ... we'll see."

"I need to talk to Hurley. I'll drive you back to his place if you like."

"Mind if I stay here with Norton?"

I looked at her for a moment before I answered. "You were going to anyway, weren't you?"

She nodded.

"I'll be back in an hour or so. Make yourself at home," I said, putting my bottle on the counter and heading out the door. She was beginning to make me uncomfortable. There wasn't much doubt about what she wanted. The question was whether I was going to play along.

It took less than five minutes to get to Hurley's cabin. The door was open when I got out of the car and walked in. He was sitting in his rocker with a coffee mug in his hand. Hurley didn't drink any more. In the past he'd done his share and a few other peoples' as well.

"That girl getting under your skin?" he asked as I poured a cup for myself. Despite the primitive kitchen, Hurley made damn fine coffee.

"She can do that all right. Don't exactly know what to do about her, to tell the truth."

"Go with the flow, Rick. She's a damn fine lookin' woman and she's old enough to know what she wants. From what I can tell, she wants you."

"You know I don't mix business with pleasure," I reminded him.

"I have a feeling this is more than just pleasure. That girl is awful picky when it comes to making friends. She cut you out of the herd for a reason. Woman's intuition maybe?"

"She doesn't even know me."

"She workin' on it," he grinned. "How old do you think she is?"

"Thirty ... give or take."

"She's thirty six. Been married once to a real asshole and cut him loose before she killed him. She's got a degree in criminal justice and served on the El Cajon police force for ten years. Quit when she killed a guy in the line of duty and Internal Affairs tried to make her out to be reckless. Can you imagine, a guy holding up a liquor store with two guns and firing shots off all over the place and she's the bad guy?"

I was shaking my head. It wasn't a new story. I'd heard it before in more than one place. Women on the force were not given many breaks. More than half the guys didn't want them there and wouldn't stand up for them when politics got involved. I was getting a different picture of Sally Baynes.

"Rick, I know you and I trust you. You won't hurt Sally and that's a fact. Don't let me get in the way if you two want to get together. In fact, I'd feel better if you did. She needs someone and you'd be a good partner."

"I'll see how it plays out, Hurley. I'm used to one-night-stands. I'm not sure I'm ready or willing for something more."

"Like I said, go with the flow," he smiled as he took another sip of coffee.

"I think the IRA is getting restless," I said, changing the subject. "That fuck-up in Dublin was crude, but I'm pretty sure it was them."

"Trying to set you up to do their dirty work?"

"That's my guess. I turned one of their informants this week. He'll last less than a month, but we should be able to get something from him. The British want to know their target and so do we."

"You working with MI-5?"

"No. Our boys and their boys don't play nice together unless they're forced to. Too bad. It's a big sandbox. We could use the help."

"Who's helping whom?" he asked.

"Can't tell. Al Qaeda don't trust anyone, so it could be someone else. The Brits and the Israelis don't trust each other, so they aren't getting any reliable outside intel right now. No one trusts us, so we're on our own."

"Piss poor state of affairs if you ask me," he said with a sour look.

"Predictable when we decided to be the Lone Ranger and didn't need anyone else until the shit hit the fan in 9/11. Lots of internal blame to go around in that one."

"I got out of the Navy just before the Cole got hit," Hurley grumbled. "All the signs were there and no one paid attention to them. Didn't want to believe it could happen. Why would we bother with Naval Intelligence when the powers-that-be just ignore us?"

"Beats the hell out of me, Hurley."

To Be Continued